OT XIV [C]: Is 66:10-14c; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20

St. Philip Neri, who earned the title “Apostle of Rome” came down to Rome in the early 1500s as an immigrant from Florence and a layman. When he arrived, he was horrified by the physical and moral devastation of the city. Rome had been sacked in 1527 by the Germans who had left much of the city in ruins. The Gospel wasn’t being preached, and many priests and cardinals were living in open defiance of Christ’s moral teachings. Philip prayed to God to learn what he might do. He read the letters that St. Francis Xavier had sent back to Europe from India, where he had been converting tens of thousands. Philip thought that God was calling him to be a missionary to India, to give his life in proclaiming the Gospel. When he went to his spiritual director and told him what he thought God was asking of him, the wise old priest affirmed his desire to serve and bear witness to Christ. However, he told Philip to focus his attention on re-evangelizing those around him, declaring, “Rome is to be your India!” This was quite a task for one man. But Philip, relying on God’s help, started — first as a layman, then as a priest — to convert Rome, one person at a time. He would cheerfully go to street corners and say, “Friends, when are we going to start to do good?” He developed various entertaining social and religious activities to give the people, especially the young people, better alternatives for their hearts and time than those offered by the debauched culture around them. His impact was enormous, and when he died in 1595, much of Rome had been reconverted. The same God who spoke to Philip almost five hundred years ago challenges each one of us this morning through the Scriptures, to make “Your home and your family, your workplace and your parish are your mission field!”

While all the synoptic Gospels mention a mission of the Twelve, only Luke adds a second mission of the 72.  Moses selected the seventy-two elders to guide and govern his people. Here, Luke shows Jesus doing something similar, sending out in pairs, seventy-two other disciples to towns and villages to announce his visit. In this way, Jesus connects his Messianic mission with the whole of Israel’s history in which 72 had become a symbolic number. The Jews also believed that there were seventy-two nations in the whole world, and they had seventy-two members in the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews.

The disciples received instructions as to how they were to carry out their mission. For example, they were to “carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, no food, no walking sticks.” His command was that the disciples should give up even these necessities so as to be both a living act of Faith in God and “walking signs” to those who saw them.  The disciples were only armed with their Faith and the name of Jesus. They needed nothing more. Their detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and would oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who were receptive to the Gospel. Their life-style should help proclaim their message: “The reign of God is at hand.”

Their guidelines were simple: go where they were received (v 5-6); remain in one place (v 7) and eat what was set before them (verse 8). After settling down in a house, if they were invited by a richer family they were not to move to another house for better convenience. This would help them avoid the appearance of being mercenary.  The basic idea behind Jesus’ instruction is that his disciples were sent as walking witnesses, and, hence, they were not to depend on anything or anybody except on the Holy Spirit of God and on Divine providence.

“Greet no one along the way.” This instruction implies that the mission was so urgent that nothing should divert the disciples from it.  In the Asian culture if you greet somebody they would be invited into the house for refreshments and chit chat. This would waste away the important time. Therefore, they were not to greet anyone on the way.

 “Let your peace come back to you.”  This means, “Don’t take rejections personally.  You have done your part, so don’t worry about the outcome.” It is not up to us to force anyone to accept Jesus. Our mission is to prepare the way. If a person’s heart is open, the Lord will enter in.

Just as Jesus in today’s Gospel gives instructions to the seventy-two missionaries, he also gives each one of us a mission to carry out. There are over one billion Roman Catholics and about as many other Christians who accept Jesus as “Lord” and “Savior.” So there are over 2 billion missionaries in a world of 7.7 billion people.  A recent survey asked the question, “Why do adults join the Catholic Church in spite of the scandals publicized in the media?”  Seventy-five percent of the new adult converts to the Catholic Church reported that they were attracted by a personal invitation from a Catholic who had a lively relationship with Christ and his Church.  As faithful Catholics, we will attract others to the Catholic Church—just as a rose attracts people by its beauty and fragrance.

Let us become heralds of the Kingdom in our own homes by treating each other with profound respect. When spouses respect each other and, thus, teach their children to do the same, our neighbors will experience the Kingdom in our families, because the Kingdom of God is God’s rule in our hearts enabling us to do His will. Let’s start evangelizing today, and let’s start it right from our home.